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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 12 page paper presenting two case studies. The Caterpillar study refers to problems and issues Caterpillar faced in the 1980s and what the company did to regain market share through changes in management and operations. The second case refers to problems and issues Harley-Davidson faced in the early 1980s through the 1990s and what the changes they made to overcome the problems. Both companies thought they were immune from problems and discovered just how vulnerable they were to near extinction. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
12 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PGctphly.RTF
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
market, i.e., outside the U.S. (Bartlett, 1989). Their dominance had been achieved by following specific values and principles from the beginning, such as quality and durability of their equipment, building
long-lasting trusting relationships with their customers, excellent customer service, a strong corporate culture and a well-controlled organization environment (Bartlett, 1989). Decisions were made at the top by the six persons
in the executive office but when the company had a strong CEO, the final decision was always made by him (Bartlett, 1989). It was top-down management, very nearly autocratic. While
they prided themselves on their corporate culture, the fact was that managers were fearful of making any kind of mistake. As a result, lower-level managers tended to shift difficult decisions
to a higher level manager (Bartlett, 1989). They would not even discuss any point with their boss unless they were absolutely certain they were right (Bartlett, 1989). The company had
become so sure of themselves, they committed serious mistakes. In their arrogance and over-confidence, between 1973 and 1983, they increased the prices of their products by 10 percent per year
(Bartlett, 1989). They did this in spite of a competitor that was growing fast - Komatsu, a Japanese company (Bartlett, 1989). In 1982, however, the bubble began to
burst. The world went into a serious recession. To compound this event, the company suffered a 205-day strike by UAW workers (Bartlett, 1989). Caterpillar was faced with an employee compensation
package for their employees that was 90 percent higher than Komatsus package (Bartlett, 1989). Komatsu was able to offer lower prices and Caterpillars sales dropped in half (Bartlett, 1989). By
1985, Komatsu took 25 percent of the world market (Bartlett, 1989). In an effort to control costs, Caterpillar closed several plants and decreased employees by more than 24,000 during a
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